Street Repair and Maintenance

The City of Webster City strives to provide safe and well-maintained streets. Pothole patching is a year-long maintenance service but is most commonly seen in the winter months when freezing and thawing occurs. Crews use cold patching material that is ideal for damp surfaces during the winter months. Winter mix uses a softer stickier asphalt that can be compacted into a hole even in below-freezing temperatures. Warm mix asphalt material is typically used for repairing potholes during the summer months and tends to hold up longer. Pothole patching is a temporary repair until a more permanent solution can be implemented. Main arterial streets are repaired first followed by residential streets, and lastly hard service alleys.

Staff cleans the pothole so its free of debris and water, fills the hole in with loose asphalt mix material, and roles it in with a pick-up or tamps it in with a small compactor to compress the material as tightly as possible.  

To report a Pothole:
Contact the Webster City Street Department at 515-832-9123 After working hours at 515-832-9166.

Durapatching is a yearly street maintenance program that repairs pavement flaws, surface distress, large potholes, cracking, and uneven surfaces on asphalt or concrete. Durapatching cleans the defected area, applies a layer of tack coat, and sprays emulsion/aggregate mix onto the pothole/defected surface. This method of repair is very cost effective and will last for several years until a more permanent solution is implemented.

The City of Webster City currently has a three-year contract with Pavement Doctor would provides this service every spring. 

Concrete panel replacement is a full-depth replacement with sub-base removal. What typically occurs in this situation is water infiltrates the sub-base material causing longitudinal and transverse cracking and corner breaks. There is no pavement preservation or rehab option to fix this issue making full depth removal the best repair. Staff then breaks up the faulty concrete, remove and haul away, stabilize the base by installing fresh rock and compacting, pinning to adjacent concrete with steel reinforcement bar, and pouring new concrete.

Street Department staff replaces numerous panels throughout the City during the summer months and bids out $50,000 worth of panel replacement a year.

Crack sealing is a commonly used preventative maintenance activity for concrete and asphalt surfaces. Crack sealing consist of routing or blowing compressed air in the crack to remove debris and adding rubberized crack sealant to fill the crack. Crack sealing extends the life of pavement surfaces by preventing infiltration of water and other material to the sub-base. When water finds its way through cracks in the pavement during the winter months, it will freeze and expand causing potholes and damage to the pavement surface. The recommended time to perform crack sealing is in the spring and fall. Crack Sealing on a yearly basis will reduce potholes from forming, prevent structural deterioration, while keeping surfaces in good condition. 

Street Department staff bids out $50,000 worth of crack sealing a year. Locations are based on surface distress, concrete or asphalt, and street priority.    

Asphalt overlays is a thin layer of asphalt laid over a deteriorated surface giving it a new look and extending its useful life before needing reconstruction. Asphalt overlays are less expensive than traditional asphalt paving, can last decades with proper care and treatment, and can be completed more quickly.

Full Depth Reconstruction consist of removing street surface, curb and gutter, sub-base material, and utility infrastructure. If a street surface is beyond saving through pavement preservation and or utility infrastructure below ground needs replaced or repaired full depth reconstruction is the best option. This method is the most time consuming and most expensive. 

For example, Second Street from Prospect Street to Overpass Drive was a full depth reconstruction project. This project consisted of adding a third lane of traffic, upsizing Storm/Sanitary Sewer mainline and water main, providing new sub-base material, and replacing new water and sewer services to the ROW.